Radio Information Service

The Radio Information Service or RIS was a reading service for the blind in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that was carried via subcarrier on WDUQ in Pittsburgh.

Prior to closing in 2009, the RIS weekly audience was 1,200 listeners with two-thirds of the audience over 60 years of age. Most listeners lived in Allegheny, Washington and Westmoreland Counties but RIS also served nine other counties in the region, including Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence and Somerset. RIS also serves parts of Ohio and West Virginia.

Listeners accessed RIS through a special FM radio receiver, over the Internet, on Comcast Cable systems or through the RIS Telephone Dial-In Service.

RIS based its programming on its motto "Independence Through Information". Given that many visual impairments tend to be age-related, RIS's services were specially tailored to their needs. One of the most popular programs was the daily newspapers where a pair of narrators read local and regional newspapers, including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Other programming included popular magazines, ads from grocery, drug and department stores, TV listings and other special interest publications. Additionally, RIS provided translations of printed material to Braille or audio recording.

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